Month: March 2014

  • Meeting climate targets may require reducing diet of meat and dairy

    Greenhouse gas emissions from food production may threaten the UN climate target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, according to research at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

  • Climate-hit fisheries ‘can still meet demand in 2050’

    Fish catches will need to increase by only 3.4 per cent to meet global dietary demand in 2050, according to a study predicting how climate change will affect marine ecosystems. The authors warn that achieving this will require the wider implementation of sustainable harvesting, such as technological developments to reduce dependence on wild stock for…

  • Desalination is Now a Billion Dollar Industry, Report Shows

    Despite some early March rain in California, and a few storm systems moving in this week, the late season moisture will sadly fall far short of that which is needed to pull the state out of its four-year drought.

  • Revealed For The First Time: The Surprising Biodiversity Of Algae ‘Reefs’

    Most people are familiar with coral reefs, but very few have ever heard of their algal equivalent – rhodolith beds. Yet, these structures provide crucial habitat for many marine species. In the first study of its kind, published in mongabay.com’s Tropical Conservation Science, researchers unveil just how important these beds are for bottom-dwelling organisms, and…

  • Ground breaking battery technology promises to extend EV range

    Over the last few years much of the talk with regards to the electric vehicle sector has focused upon battery restrictions with many people calling for greater investment in the sector. There was a general consensus emerging that lithium ion batteries had perhaps been pushed to their technological limit and we may need to strip…

  • Being Married DOES have health benefits!

    Analysis of surveys of more than 3.5 million American men and women, administered at some 20,000 health centers across the country — believed to be the largest analysis of its kind ever performed — found that married people, regardless of age, sex, or even cardiovascular risk factors, had significantly less chances of having any kind…

  • Cost of agriculture related emissions outweigh benefits

    Revenues associated with ammonia pollution generated by agriculture equate to higher than expected health care costs according to Harvard researchers Fabien Paulot and Daniel Jacob. The NASA funded study used computer models that identified the harmful ammonia emissions created by the interaction of agriculturally generated ammonia in the atmosphere.

  • Three Mile Island – 35 years on

    Thirty-five years ago today the USA had its worst ever civilian nuclear accident with a reactor meltdown at Three Mile Island. Linda Pentz Gunter reports on the lies and cover ups about the true scale of the radiation release and its impacts on human health.

  • Sustainability is Important to Most American Food Shoppers, Survey Finds

    A new survey of American consumers provides some potentially surprising findings that indicate American food shoppers are very mindful about what they place into their shopping carts, and it’s not just about price and taste. While food commercials on television constantly bombard Americans with offerings that focus on price-point and convenience, a 2014 survey by…

  • EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Release New Rule to Protect Waterways

    The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule this week to clarify which waterways are protected under the Clean Water Act. Two Supreme Court decisions, one in 2001 and the other in 2006, made determining which waterways are protected under the CWA confusing and complex. The proposed rule doesn’t…